A member of Telly Hankton's family attempted to pose as a juror to gain illegal access to the courthouse at Tulane Avenue and Broad Street, an Orleans Parish prosecutor told a judge Friday. Just who the family member was -- or what she was hoping to accomplish -- remained unclear Friday morning as Hankton's retrial in the murder of Darnell Stewart continued.

Michael DeMocker, The Times-PicayuneThe location in the 3400 block of South Claiborne Avenue where Darnell Stewart. was allegedly shot by Telly Hankton after a high-speed chase down South Claiborne Avenue on May 13, 2008. Photographed on Wednesday, August 17, 2011.

A spokesman for Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman, Marc Ehrhardt, said the woman tried to enter yesterday through an alternate entrance to the building, claiming to be a juror and not wanting to be caught on camera.

That woman has been identified as Latoya Emery, 28, of Kenner. A copy of her summons issued by the Sheriff's Office to appear in court was obtained by The Times-Picayune.

Prosecutors raised the alleged impersonation attempt today as they sought, once again, to clear the courtroom, this time for the testimony of their most critical witness, a man who positively identified Hankton as the man who strode across South Claiborne and fired 11 bullets into Stewart about 9 p.m. on May 13, 2008.

They attempted Thursday to clear the courtroom as witness John Matthews testified, but Judge Dennis Waldron refused.

One trial observer, however, was booted from the courtroom Thursday, but not arrested, for making gestures to the jury.

Waldron rejected prosecutor Margaret Parker's request again Friday, and spectators watched as the state's main witness dabbed his eyes with a tissue as he recounted watching a car chase unfold into a murder.

The man, who said he was driving home from work in the French Quarter, identified Hankton, 35, as the one he saw cross South Claiborne Avenue and shoot Stewart after a high-speed car chase.

He again recounted his drive home that night, when he said he saw a silver Mustang chasing after another car, cutting him off. Then, he said, he pulled along the neutral ground and watched the Mustang smack into Stewart.

"It hit him and sent him very, very high in the air. It sent him over the telephone pole. His shoes came off. His pants almost came off and he went end over end over end," he said.

"I watched him just fall to the ground."

Then, he said, he watched Hankton walk over and fire away at Stewart. Parker asked if the man, who made a frantic call to 9-1-1, was certain about who he saw shoot Stewart.

"I was watching him so hard, because I didn't want to die," said the man. "I didn't want to leave my wife alone...I just wanted to make sure if something happened to me, someone would be able to do something. I tried so hard to look, because I was scared."

When he last testified, at a trial that ended in a hung jury in late July, the man appeared clearly upset. He seemed a bit more composed Friday, but still repeatedly paused and dabbed his eyes.

Telly Hankton is now charged in two separate murder cases in New Orleans.

"How are you feeling right now?" Parker asked him.

"Please don't ask me that," he replied. "I didn't even want to be there. I don't want to be here."

Hankton's attorney, Robert Glass, has begun his cross-examination of the witness.